Summer Streets

On Yom Kippur in Israel, no motor vehicles are allowed in the streets from sundown to the following sundown and everyone sets out to walk through some of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. Kids sit in the middle of the road with sidewalk chalk. Elderly people hobble along with canes. It's a pretty cool sight to behold, and I wonder if someone had that in mind when they planned the first Summer Streets days here in New York. This year marks the third series they've held, and for the sake of all New Yorkers I hope it remains as solid a tradition as Yom Kippur is in Israel.

For three Saturdays in August, a seven-mile stretch of road, starting at the base of Central Park and ending at the Brooklyn Bridge, is closed to auto traffic. I happened to hear about this from a fellow runner I randomly met at a cafe last night. She was planning a morning run through the streets, but since the Bronx Half is tomorrow and I'm tapering (this is my favorite part of training), I decided to just go for a walk instead.

This is the first lemonade stand I've seen since I moved here! Lemonade and chocolate chip cookies cost a dollar each, and a sign said that all proceeds would go to Autism Speaks. The girl seemed to be doing a pretty brisk business.

Most of the people taking advantage of the lack of traffic seemed to be cyclists. There were tons of them out, riding every kind of bike you can imagine, some ambling along, others zipping in and out of slower-moving traffic. Every few blocks there was a huge banner advertising the free exercise classes that would be available throughout the day and where they would be held. I read about dumpster pools (seriously, they fill dumpsters with water...) and a picnic area sponsored by Whole Foods. Along the sides of the road here and there were information booths for bike clubs and gyms. One radio station had speakers blaring out music on a corner. Most cross traffic, except for on a few major streets, was completely closed, meaning that you could walk/run/ride/rollerblade almost entirely uninterrupted through areas like midtown, SoHo, and Chinatown where that's usually nothing more than a pipe dream.

It was a pretty cool scene, and I was sorry to be able to see only part of it. But next weekend I'm planning to bike down to the start at Central Park and ride the whole thing. Stay tuned for pictures of dumpster pools.